Curious George 2006

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: George is just so darn cute with his big eyes and bright smile and perpetually sunny disposition, he's pretty much impossible to resist. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: If these virtues sound passive, it's because the movie is passive, not to mention overplotted and misfocused. Read more

Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: Molasses-sweet, plot-heavy and pandering. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: The artwork, I liked it, is faithful to the original, but to tell people my age, or someone 25, that they should see nine or ten bucks to see this movie I can't do it. Read more

Chris Garcia, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Curious George is probably the purest family movie in years. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: The welcome absence of strained cleverness qualifies as one of its biggest virtues. Read more

Bill Muller, Arizona Republic: If you count yourself among the curious, spend an afternoon with George. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Artful simplicity may be an impossible quality in a modern children's movie, so Curious George opts instead for mayhem under a blanket of sweetness. The little ones understand. Read more

Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times: As simple, friendly, kid-appropriate and nontoxic as any major motion picmerchtainment franchise could ever hope to be. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: Visually, the movie benefits from a charming animation style, a traditional 2-D approach layered with shadows and backlit halos. But it benefits most from George, still worming his way into people's hearts. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Because almost all animated films now are computer generated, the 2-D animated Curious George has the not-unpleasant patina of an antique. Read more

Christy Lemire, Deseret News, Salt Lake City: Director Matthew O'Callaghan and screenwriter Ken Kaufman haven't tried to create a film that's hip, just one that's funny and sweet, and in that sense they've succeeded. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the new cartoon of Curious George, featuring the voice of Will Ferrell as the Man in the Yellow Hat, doesn't veer all that far from the soothing tone of the books. Read more

John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press: The biggest surprise of Curious George is how it keeps consistently entertaining at a kids' level. Read more

Kate Taylor, Globe and Mail: Gentle enough to satisfy the wee ones but has little to offer their adult companions... Read more

Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News: Adults and kids older than 12 may find the story a few bananas short of a bunch, but expect the younger set to find it curiously satisfying. Read more

Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: The cute simian's chief function, in this age of peewee pedagogy, is to bring the clueless Ted to an awareness of his own animal nature and jazz up the museum with a little mad science. Read more

Jan Stuart, Newsday: Kaufman tosses in thudding references to cell phones and lattes, falling into modernization traps that the makers of the very respectable Winnie the Pooh films managed to avoid. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Skip the movie altogether, and buy one of the books, instead. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: This is an adaptation that is absolutely faithful to the child's-eye-view books, down to the name of the ship that brings George from Africa -- the H.A. Rey. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The movie is faithful to the spirit and innocence of the books, and director Matthew O'Callaghan and his team create a visual look that is uncluttered, charming, and not so realistic that it undermines the fantasies on the screen. Read more

Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: Although the makers of Curious George decided a 21st century update was necessary, they fill the movie with enough tributes to the Reys to take a lot of the sting away. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The makers of Curious George have figured out how to make an innocent cartoon that will amuse knee-nuzzlers without hitting adults like a liter of chloroform. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: Despite eerie narrative parallels with King Kong, the most curious thing about Curious George is how gentle it is. Read more

Anna Smith, Time Out: It's good old-fashioned family entertainment. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: The movie, particularly the endearing George, should appeal to young children, and the humor should elicit a few chuckles among their parents as well. Read more

Brian Lowry, Variety: Rudimentary on every level, this long-gestating Universal pic based on the children's character is pitched toward the youngest of kids -- roughly ages zygote to 4 -- with direct-to-video quality animation, plotting and backgrounds. Read more

Peter L'Official, Village Voice: Misanthropic toddlers will be rolling in the aisles. Read more

Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: It's pretty elementary. Read more